To the UW Community,
The University of Washington (UW) plans to reopen for primarily in-person classes learning this autumn quarter. We oppose this decision in light of the current global pandemic, as we feel it does not create equitable, accessible spaces for teaching, learning, research, and community. While the University has instituted certain policies for creating a safe campus, these do not directly address critical issues such as classroom capacity, contact tracing, and ensuring that quarantine procedures does not adversely impact grades. Nor do they meet the needs of vulnerable groups, including parents of children under 12, people living with immunocompromised individuals, or people with medical contraindications to vaccination. 

We demand that the University of Washington:

• Designates Autumn 2021 as an extraordinary circumstances quarter.
• Guarantees accommodations for remote learning for all students who want to go remote, provides instructors with the option to teach remotely if they wish to do so, and provides additional resources for instructors who are teaching in-person so they can accommodate remote learners.
• Guarantees in-person classroom safety and clarifies criteria that would trigger a transition from in-person/hybrid learning to remote learning.

Designate Autumn 2021 as an Extraordinary Circumstances Quarter
Autumn 2021 is the first quarter since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that is not currently planned to be designated as an Extraordinary Circumstances quarter, despite the fact that the pandemic continues to be a pressing public health emergency. We demand that Autumn 2021 be designated as an Extraordinary Circumstances Quarter, reflecting the reality UW community members are studying and working despite extenuating circumstances and opening the pathway for students to learn online while maintaining visa and scholarship status, and reducing grading and evaluation burdens on both instructors and students. The pandemic is still a prevalent concern in people's lives that may prevent them from completing their school work to their fullest abilities (e.g., working, caring for family members, or are remote due to COVID concerns or travel restrictions). Therefore, it is crucial that UW continues its fair, established precedent by designating the Autumn 2021 as an exceptional circumstances quarter.

Guarantee Accommodations for Remote Learning
We acknowledge that many students, faculty, and staff are excited to come back to in-person learning after remote instruction for the past 1.5 years. However, for many students (and instructors), continued access to remote learning (and teaching) is essential to ensuring the health and safety of themselves and their loved ones. We demand that all students who wish to continue learning remotely have the option to do so. All students should have remote access to core course content and remote class participation should be made available to any student who wants it. We recognize that it is not possible for every class to be remotely accessible -- for example, lab courses -- but for the majority of lecture- and discussion-based courses, which have been remote during the pandemic, students should retain the choice to access and participate in these courses remotely. 

We also recognize that maintaining hybrid learning, with some students virtual and some in-person, can create a significant, undeserved burden on professors and instructors. To mitigate the burden, we demand that professors/instructors have access to support, such as extra teaching assistants, graders, or services to help make online content accessible. We additionally demand that professors/instructors also be similarly provided with the option to teach their class remotely if they wish to do so. 

We demand that all instructors who wish to teach remotely be given that option, and that instructors who wish to teach in-person are provided additional resources to support all students who want or need to learn remotely, with exceptions only for courses where in-person learning is absolutely essential(e.g. lab courses, medical courses, etc.). 

Guarantee In-Person Classroom Safety
We demand that classes that must be instructed in-person adhere to proven safety standards for social distancing, contact tracing, masking and verification of vaccination status. UW Medicine has done some in-person instruction safely during the pandemic. We should learn from this. 

We demand clear guidance on when in-person courses will be considered inherently unsafe enough to require remote instruction. A sudden return to remote learning in the middle of the quarter would be disruptive. Uncontrolled spread of SARS-CoV-2 when children cannot be vaccinated and the population is partially vaccinated is unacceptable. We need clear guidance on what criteria would trigger in-person/hybrid courses to be taught in a fully remote format.

Additionally, we demand clear guidance on how masking and vaccine requirements will be enforced. Unfortunately, there have been many media reports of people selling fake vaccine documentation and of people violently resisting reasonable instructions to mask. Accountability is essential and it should be clear how mask and vaccine enforcements will be carried out. Additionally, while the University has published some information on contact tracing protocols, we need more specific clarity on how a positive case within the classroom or with a close contact would impact whether the course continues to be in-person or not. Students need confidence that if they report symptoms, a positive test, or positive close contact, their grade will not be negatively affected. All students and employees need accurate and timely information on SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks on campus. SARS-CoV-2 outbreak information should be provided through an easily accessible dashboard. We believe weekly or twice-weekly rapid antigen testing should be administered for those learning in-person as similar testing regimes have proven to be as effective as PCR COVID-19 tests, could mitigate the outbreaks within weeks, and has already been implemented at many universities.